Newstrack

MakeMyTrip.com sets up shop in Bangalore

Gayatri Vijaykumar - Bangalore

Deep Kalra Founder & CEO MakeMyTrip.com

"Bangalore is the most cosmopolitan city in India and has been the number one market for the sale of flight tickets and hotel rooms," said Deep Kalra, founder and CEO of the online travel portal MakeMyTrip.com at the launch of its regional office in Bangalore on June 12. This is the fourth city that MakeMyTrip has established its offices in apart from Delhi, Gurgaon and Ahmedabad. Plans are also on to establish offices in Mumbai and Kolkata. The Bangalore office will be headed by Manish Bharthi, general manager, south India.

According to Kalra, Karnataka accounts for three per cent of the total outbound travel and 20 per cent of domestic holidays and hotel sales in MakeMyTrip. "Our target is to increase the domestic and outbound travel business from the current three per cent to seven per cent by the end of financial year 2009," announced Kalra. MakeMyTrip has piloted retail initiatives with Subhiksha, Spencers and the In and Out outlets of BPCL. MakeMyTrip.com has also partnered with mobile service provider Pay Mate to provide mobile commerce.

To maintain high standards, the portal is providing rigorous training to its customer service executives on computerised reservation systems such as Amadeus and Galileo. Kalra said, "The time has come for online travel agents to morph and become a hybrid model where people can book online as well as visit a physical office or a kiosk."

Started in April 2000, MakeMyTrip.com has received capital from three institutional investors, Helion Venture Partners, Sierra Ventures and Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund. With a turnover of Rs 550 crore as of March 2007, MakeMyTrip.com's target for the financial year 2009 is Rs 2000 crore.